Friday, May 28, 2010

For all of you splitting at the sides at my policy of not allowing tit-for-tat partisan political comments, this post is for you. Here's your chance to make good your boasts that the Democrats are just as stupid as the Republicans. Think my posts are biased against the GOP because its stupidity gets highlighted more than that from the Democrats? Now's put-up-or-shut-up time. To maintain focus and avoid the tactics of obfuscation (which is one of the main bases for my policy), here are the ground rules:

1) Give an exact quote by a Democrat with either a primary source, or a respected non-Rupert-Murdock-owned secondary source. No paraphrasing, no "watch this link", no "Ann Coulter said so", no "Some people say".

2) Describe what changes would need to be made to the statement to make it correct, and if it is a scientific subject, source your answer to some widely respected authority on the matter (ie a scientific organization or representative of its view). We can't measure how wide of the mark an idiotic statement is if we don't know what a true statement would be, and differing with GOP orthodoxy does not idiocy make.

3) Tell me what statement by a GOPer is comparable. Be sure to keep in mind #2, as well as how respected the speaker is on his side of the aisle, and how large an audience he has. It's hardly reasonable to compare something said by a Gaia tree-hugger whose group meets in a phone booth with something Sarah Palin said.

Failing to conform to this criteria will result in noninclusion. This is not an opportunity to toss as much shit against the wall as you can in an effort to see what sticks.

My contention, as made evident by my many blog postings on this subject, is that the "breathtaking inanity" (Bush-appointed Judge Jones' description of the Intelligent Design crowd) expressed by GOP politicians and supporters dwarfs that of Democrats by orders of magnitude, both in wideness of the reality mark, and the audience and respect such views get. It's never been my contention that there are NO stupid crazy democrats. But democrats who say things every bit as crazy as what creationists say are mostly laughed at by other Democrats, or hidden in the attic. They don't nominate them for Vice President. They don't make their views part of the party platform. The GOP does.

On every issue where there is a clear scientific consensus, and the two parties differ, it is the GOP on the ignorant side of the aisle. Whether it is evolution, global warming, stem cell research, abstinence-only birth control, and a host of other issues, it's the democrats that side closest to the best science we have. The Republicans pay lip service to science, and try desperately to give the impression that their ideology is supported by it, but in the end when science clashes with their ideology, ideology wins. That goes for overtly religious subjects like evolution, to more secular religious views like supply-side economics and pure capitalism. The Laffer curve is every bit as religious, and evidence-free, as a 6,000 year-old-earth is, as is the notion that government ruins everything. Ever hear of WWII, the moon landing, or the interstate highway system? Government programs all.

Again, that's not to say the Democrats are above criticism. On too many subjects, they deviate from clear science and mathematics (the drug war, gun control, social security, etc.) It's just small potatoes compared to what Republicans do, and is usually a lesser level of error. I'd compare the Republicans and Democrats to two doctors presented with our sick society. The Democrats want to bleed it with leeches. The Republicans want to pray for its recovery. While both solutions are clearly flawed, the Democrats are epistemologically eons ahead. At least their proposal understands that there are physical forces at work here, that they are part of the body politic, and curing what ails it means changing that physicality somehow. The Republican method doesn't even seem comfortable with objective reality, and is essentially relying on magic. The Democrats flaws can be changed with data. The GOP is stuck where it is forever, because to them, what seems true in their gut, or their mind, makes scientific evidence-gathering irrelevant. Republicans are, in every way that matters, still living in the 18th century. They never went through the scientific renaissance. They are still Aristotelian.

In Hoke County divorce records, his wife said in 1995 that D'Annunzio had claimed to be the Messiah, had traveled to New Jersey to raise his stepfather from the dead, believed God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid as the New Jerusalem on Greenland and found the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona. A doctor's evaluation the following month said D'Annunzio used marijuana almost daily, had been living with another woman for several months, had once been in drug treatment for heroin dependence and was jailed a couple times as a teenager.

The doctor concluded that his religious beliefs were not delusional. A judge wrote in a child support ruling a few years later that D'Annunzio was a self-described "religious zealot" who believed the government was the "Antichrist." The judge said he was willfully failing to make child support payments.

Sharon Angle, the Tea Party’s top candidate in the GOP primary to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), is benefiting from an implosion by frontrunner Sue Lowden, who has been sinking in the polls ever since she suggested that poor Nevadans could “barter” with their doctors, perhaps by giving them a chicken in exchange for services...Angle’s ultra-conservative positions, which include abolishing the Department of Education and ending virtually all campaign finance restrictions

Ain't it great where the person suggesting we pay our doctors in chickens is the sane one?

Vaughn Ward, an Iraq war vet who had been endorsed by Palin and was highly touted as a recruit by the national party...was caught recycling lines from then Sen. Barack Obama’s 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention. Ward had also been rebuked for making it appear that Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo endorsed his campaign when, in fact, he had not. And on at least two occasions, Ward suggested that Puerto Rico, where primary opponent Labrador was born, is a foreign nation.

Friday, May 21, 2010

In case anyone actually needed the proof, Rachel Maddow does a masterful job here and here giving Rand Paul enough racist rope to hang himself. Paul prattles on about how he's not a racist and hates discrimination, and then waffles and dances like a madman to avoid answering the simple question of whether his view would allow businesses to refuse to serve blacks, or gays, or women, or whoever they want. Of course it would, and Paul should have been less of a pussy and just flat said that it did. He should have said that as a libertarian, he would rather suffer the negative repercussions of private business discrimination than suffer from government interference in that part of life, however big talk it'd be from a white male who wouldn't be the one suffering, rather than try to pawn it off as some sort of hypothetical, abstract discussion. That made him come off as a dishonest, patronizing sleazebag.

But I'm really waiting for all the Tea Baggers to come forward and denounce Paul's de facto support of racial discrimination (you can't say you're for dike breaches but against floods), and an effective social return to 1960. Come on guys, you SAY you aren't a bunch of racists - now put up or shut up.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

In case you missed it, here is Bill O'Reilly's recent parade of stupidity:

Here's Bill giving Ann Coulter a chance to babble nonsensically about those evil, fictional "liberals" who are against everything, and who loved Hitler. And Don't dare think rationally!

Of course what would an article featuring stupidity be without an appearance by Sarah Palin, revealing clearly her desire for a Biblical government, and her complete ignorance, compounded by Bill's, of the religion-free nature of our Constitution. I would love just once to hear someone blabbing on about how relevant The Ten Commandments is to our government to name a single law forbidding worshiping idols, or coveting, or not keeping the sabbath. Methinks they don't even know the contents of their own religion.

And finally, listen to Bill take the daring position, no doubt popular in his great-grandmother's time, that redistribution of wealth is a new and dangerous concept. Happens every time a tax is collected, or a government program implemented. Do try to keep up.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

"As a Christian and as a public servant, I have never wavered in my belief that this world and everything in it is a masterpiece created by the hands of God. As a member of the Alabama Board of Education, the record clearly shows that I fought to ensure the teaching of creationism in our school text books. Those who attack me have distorted, twisted and misrepresented my comments and are spewing utter lies to the people of this state."

Enjoy, for just a moment, the schadenfreude at the quote-minders eating their own.

But back to harsh reality, this is a race for Governor folks. GOVERNOR! We shouldn't tolerate this nonsense from someone running for dog catcher, much less Governor. I guess given the recent rise of dull stars like Glenn Beck in the conservative constellation we should have expected this. Nonetheless, the next time someone tries to use the fact that Sarah Palin was governor as justification for giving credibility to her views, show him this half wit.

Also keep this in mind the next time someone insults your intelligence with the "oppressed Christians by the liberal media" meme. If the media had the slightest bit of objectivity, much less an anti-Christian bias, this guy would be eviscerated on every news network for a week. Instead, that appeal to the 19th century Republican base there in Alabamy might just help him win him the election.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

If you've wondered as I have about the long list of fire-and-brimstone homophobes that turn out to be gayer than a pink suit (Haggert, Foley, Larry Craig, etc.), you'll love this oldie from the Onion which ends with this:

"I swear, if these homosexuals don't take a hint and quit sucking my cock all the time, I'm going to have to resort to drastic measures–like maybe pinning them down to the cement floor of the loading dock with my powerful forearms and working my cock all the way up their butt so they understand loud and clear just how much I disapprove of their unwelcome advances. I mean, you can't get much more direct than that."

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Michael Medved wrote a surprisingly lucid article on the demographic problems facing the GOP with regard to race. While John McCain got considerably more white votes than Obama, Obama's 4:1 demolition of the GOP ticket among nonwhites sealed the deal. Those demographics will work more to the Democrats' advantage with every passing year, and Medved rightfully sounds the alarm for changes to the GOP to take this reality into account.

Predictably, many of those who criticized Medved did so in a way that made pretty clear just what the problem is:

"Note that the illegal/legal distinction is relatively unimportant, since the two population are quite similar -- we're mostly importing people bearing little human capital. "

"No peaceful solution remains for taking back the country and the government from the leftists, blacks and hispanics. "

"This nation was founded by whites, and as long as whites were a majority, their Founders' vision of limited government, individual responsibility and self-sufficiency were upheld. But the white birthrate has dropped and continues to decline, while nonwhites remain prolific breeders, not to mention the hordes of peons pouring unchecked over the southern border.

The result is inevitable. When whites are outnumbered by nonwhites the nation's standards will sink inexorably to third-world levels. Nonwhites (and most women of any color, for that matter) want government handouts, and will vote for anyone who offers them, i.e. Democrats and socialists (but I repeat myself). "

"The people are waking up, and once affirmative action and compulsory PC end, white people will again become a 90% majority in the US within a couple of generations, because they will have restored to them the birthright every decent nation affords to its own people. "

"When all the white people stop working, who will feed the trolls? He who has the money has the power, eh? So, let's take control of ourselves and let the government rule over their voter base ... have no fear of bad credit and [] relocate to a state where the men are men and where everyone is armed. I don't think the northern states will be a part of the future of the white race. "

"Yes, personal responsibility and financial independence are the hallmarks of being White, and underachiving financially and educationally, and being supported by the State are those of the Blacks. That's not me saying it, but Blacks themselves demonstrating it."

"People of color have many conservative values, and actually only need to be enlightened as to their best interests to form a conservative voting block. "

"Frightened semi-literate minorities are easy prey to people who pander to their starrey-eyed dreams. "

"The demographic trends are frightening, because the left in general and the Democrats in particular have been so effective at forging minorities and all sorts of identity groups into huge ethnic voting blocs that are impervious to any considerations beyond identity group or ethnic solidarity. "

"The Demos, the libs, the progressies, all insist that Blacks are so stupid they must have help in passing a test, and must be given much help in getting a job.I think that the real life situation proves the stupid lefties are right. Other wise the Blacks and Wettt Backkks would be smart enough to join the Tea Party, and the Republican Party. "

"Nearly all blacks and mestizos will remain Democrat, because they need handouts, quotas and soft gubmint jobs to get by ... The masses of the cognitively incapable will feed off the rest of us, and use their political power to keep the racket going. The only way forward is to circle the wagons in your white-majority state, make life on handouts as hard as you can there, and join forces with similar states in seceding from the dysfunctional, doomed USA."

"We must place a moratorium on immigration both legal and illegal."

"...they are real Americans and not hyphenated-Americans..."

"The GOP is the party of the... real American"

Gee, and they wonder why they don't attract minorities. This sample doesn't even include comments by a poster going by "El Rushbo" who seemed clearly fake to me. As a few other posters tried to explain, it's not so much the racists in the GOP, as the rest who say nothing about it, that makes for PR problems. Notice that practically no conservatives in the discussion takes any of these posters to task for these comments. If 5 members of the Klan lynch the black guy living next door to you, and you and your 20 buddies do nothing but stand and watch, you can't be too surprised that the racist label comes your way too. Sometimes inaction speaks as loudly as action.

About Me

I have a mathematics background, an interest in science, and an unapologetic impatience for sloppy thinking. This puts me at odds with both right and left. It's high time the rational scientific viewpoint got the rabid proponent it deserves. I fight nonsense so the scientists don't have to. The blog is not necessarily about science, but rather is a scientific view of the world. Rational, civilly expressed, factually supported thought-out opposing views are welcome. Disparaging, irrational, intentionally obtuse, troll-like whack-a-mole, quote-mining posts will be dispatched without hesitation or apology, as will tit-for-tat partisan "the other side does it too" political gamesmanship, and opinions of what topics I should be writing about. We don't do that here.